guys. when i saw the saltspring dress pattern announcement from sewaholic i was on the edge of my seat waiting for it to be available. to me, this is a perfect dress: it’s comfortable, it’s simple, it’s chic, it’s versatile, it’s cross-seasonal, it’s a no-brainer! i snapped up the pattern immediately and began searching for the perfect fabric. eventually i landed upon hawthorne threads website and BAM! perfect fabric. i don’t usually buy the cute designer prints due to my limited budget, but i just loved the floral and polka dot, the large scale print, fall-transitional colors… it was meant to be. so i splurged (you may laugh, but anything over $8/yd is a splurge for me) and dang do they deliver fast! that was my first order from hawthorne threads, and it was on my doorstep within two days. love that!
i decided to eliminate the zip and reduce the blousing. if you haven’t read up on this pattern, the bodice lining is shorter than the overblouse to allow the blousing to stay put; yay for a fidget-free belted dress! i felt the blousing was slightly more extreme than i wanted, so i reduced it by 3/4″ at the lengthen/shorten line (the pattern includes about 2″ of blousing). for me, the reduced amount is perfect.
i really wanted to do a maxi length, but i just couldn’t bring myself to buy the extra yard of fabric needed. in the end, i think this is a good length for this print. any longer and the pattern repeat might start to look too… repeat-y if ya know what i mean. i did add 1″ in length to the skirt pieces. then i decided to use my rolled hem foot because it was still going to be shorter than i wanted. so, if don’t want a short dress, check the hem length (i’m 5′ 8″ and have a crazy long waist to knee measurement). basically i added over 1 1/2″ to the skirt length.
and can i just say that tasia is a pattern drafting genius? no gape at the neckline, folks. NO GAPE. how??? i can actually lean over without flashing the world. baffling! i would totally use the lining piece with adjustments to make a simple cami in the future. i mean really… how did she do that?
final verdict: i soooo love this dress!!! basically this is my favoritest dress eeevvveeerrrrr. if you don’t dig the tie straps you could easily make adjustable straps with the little bra slider thingies. i do recommend leaving the zip out unless you are very busty (obvs not a problem with me…) it’s totally unnecessary. it does make things a little fiddly to sew up, but really this is one of the fastest dresses i’ve ever made. aside from the hem (i let it hang for a day incase the bias grew—it didn’t), i only spent a few hours on the sewing part. and for the record, i don’t sew very fast!
no doubt this will be a repeat pattern for me (hey, gotta justify spending top dollar for a pattern, amiright?). i would really love it in a solid color, great for layering, and on and on… okay i’ve run out of stuff to say… go buy this pattern it’s awesome!
—lisa g.